Brushing Scams with Venkat Margapuri
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Scams come in many forms but receiving a freebie from a scammer doesn’t make sense. If something shows up at your door that you didn’t order, should you be worried? Brushing scams are becoming more common and while they may seem harmless at first they can be a gateway to fraud, identity theft and financial loss. Today we’re diving into how these scams work, why they exist and the real dangers behind them. Our guest is Dr. Venkat Margapuri, an assistant professor of computer science at Villanova University. His research focuses on AI applications in agriculture and healthcare but he’s...
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Ransomware, Phishing and Fraud
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Cybersecurity isn't just a concern for large corporations. It's vital for businesses of all sizes. It's essential for companies to know how to protect sensitive data, restore from backups, and regularly test their systems with internal pen tests to keep their teams safe. Today's guest is Bryce Austin. Bryce is the CEO of TCE Strategy, a cybersecurity advisory firm. They provide vulnerability scans, penetration tests, fractional CISO services, and incident response services. He is also a professional speaker on ransomware. Bryce is the fractional CISO to many companies, including one on the...
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CISOs: The Ultimate Stress Test With Jill Knesek
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The CISO role is constantly changing. With all the shifts in cybersecurity, it's crucial to find ways to attract new talent to close the growing skills gap. CISOs now juggle complex systems managed at multiple levels and handle burnout amongst many other responsibilities. Today's guest is Jill Knesek. Jill is the Chief Information Security Officer for Blackline, a company that does financial SaaS solutions. It’s based out of the Los Angeles area. She’s been there almost three years now as the CISO, running the information security team. She previously served as Chief Security Officer for...
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AI, Automation, and the Future of Cybersecurity With Mike Lyborg
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With the increase in targeted cyber attacks, it's more important than ever for organizations to quickly identify and respond to threats. AI is helping security teams by acting as virtual analysts, handling much of the investigation work. However, human oversight is still essential for the final steps and judgment. Today's guest is Michael Lyborg. Michael is the Chief Information Security Officer at Swimlane. Prior to taking his current role, Michael was Global Vice President of Advisory Services, a highly sought-after expert by the world's largest Fortune 500 companies and global government...
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Cybersecurity Training from Boring to Engaging With Howard Goodman
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The landscape of cybersecurity training and collaboration is changing, interactive education sessions and cross team communication is key. Building a security culture and staying ahead of the modern threats has never been more important. Today’s guest is Howard Goodman, Senior Technical Director at Skybox Security. With over 20 years of experience Howard has become a well known figure in the cybersecurity world, he combines strategic planning with hands-on application across many industries. In this episode we talk about; security culture, the evolution of cybersecurity training and how...
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Next-Gen Account Security with Christiaan Brand
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With phishing and password breaches on the rise, passkeys could offer a more secure, user-friendly solution that could reshape how we protect our online identities. Today's guest is Christiaan Brand. Christiaan is the co-founder of Entersekt, a financial services security firm and a key player at Google in their security and identity teams. A respected voice in cybersecurity, Christian co-chairs the FIDO2 technical working group focusing on standardizing robust online security protocols in advancing the use of passkeys. He has been at the forefront of the shift toward more secure,...
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5 Key Cybersecurity Elements with Kelly Hood
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How do phishing scams, AI-powered attacks, and strategic governance intersect? Together, they're redefining the future of cybersecurity. Organizations are navigating a mix of challenges and implementing innovative solutions to proactively address today's threats. Today's guest is Kelly Hood. She is the EVP and cybersecurity engineer at Optics Cyber Solutions. She is a CISSP who specializes in implementing cybersecurity and privacy best practices to manage risks and to achieve compliance. She supports the NIST cybersecurity framework and serves as a CMMC registered practitioner, helping...
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Identity Crimes (Theft, Compromise & Misuse) with Mona Terry
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When you search for customer service numbers online, you might come across a scammer’s number instead. It’s important to be cautious when sharing personal information, and to verify identities before responding to requests for sensitive data. Today’s guest is Mona Terry. As Chief Victims Officer at Identity Theft Resource Center, she navigates the complexities of identity protection and identity crime recovery and management of multi-million dollar federal grants. She analyzes victim experiences to create ITRC’s Identity Report and to provide information about new and ongoing...
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Why Resolutions Fail with Dr. Leslie Becker-Phelps
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We often put off changes and schedule them to start on January 1st. Many of these idealistic resolutions fail shortly after beginning, so it is important to be thoughtful when planning so that you can set yourself up for success. Today’s guest is Dr. Leslie Becker-Phelps. Leslie is a noted psychologist who authored a number of books, including Insecure in Love, The Insecure in Love Workbook, and Bouncing Back from Rejection. She writes the Authentically You Blog and the Psychology Today Making Change Blog. Additionally, she is a national speaker and hosts a YouTube channel. Show Notes: ...
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Erasing Your Digital Footprint with Jeff Jockisch
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Data is continuously being collected and this information can lead to misleading conclusions about an individual. Without proper context, behavior can be misinterpreted. This underscores the need for data privacy laws and stronger protections against data brokers. Today’s guest is Jeff Jockisch. Jeff is a passionate data privacy researcher dedicated to exploring the evolution of technology, our search behaviors, trust dynamics, and safeguarding of our information. As Managing Partner at ObscureIQ, he specializes in advanced data removal and privacy risk mitigation for enterprises and...
info_outlineSynthetic IDs can be used to open fake accounts, but without a person to file the fraud claim, how should companies deal with this type of deceit? There is no crime where someone doesn’t need to pay for the loss. Either way, the loss is passed on to the consumers in some way or another.
Today’s guest is Steve Lenderman. Steve is currently the Head of Fraud Solutions North America at Quantexa and has over 25 years of experience in financial crimes investigation. His previous roles include being the Senior Vice President of Fraud Prevention Investigations at Bank Mobile Technology, the Director of Strategic Fraud Prevention at ADP, and the Fraud Operations Lead for PayPal Business Loans. He is a certified fraud examiner and actively contributes to the anti-fraud community.
Show Notes:
- [1:07] - Steve shares his background and what his current role is at Quantexa.
- [4:04] - For those who are interested in a career path in cybersecurity or fraud, Steve has some tips.
- [6:07] - What is synthetic identity? Steve describes what it is and why we should be concerned about them.
- [8:59] - Although still mostly built around financial data, synthetic IDs have also morphed into other nefarious uses.
- [10:56] - All fraud in general is underreported, but synthetic IDs are extremely underreported, so data is not accurate, although still very high.
- [12:37] - Synthetic IDs can be used to open a credit card and then after several purchases, fraudsters leave the card open and unpaid.
- [14:21] - Some think that synthetic IDs and fake accounts are victimless.
- [18:59] - To understand how fraud works, Steve had to create synthetic IDs.
- [22:15] - Over the years, it has gotten even easier to do, which is alarming.
- [25:13] - Credit repair using a CPN is illegal fraud using synthetic IDs.
- [26:40] - Synthetics are all built around data and the ease of collecting data in the last few years has increased the ease of creating them.
- [27:57] - Criminals have learned that they can use synthetic IDs in more ways and in more industries.
- [31:04] - Small businesses are particularly easy targets for synthetic ID use.
- [33:16] - It is possible for synthetic IDs to also be used to create a new business.
- [34:53] - Technology has also made it possible for a deep fake to be created to match a synthetic ID.
- [36:49] - A lot of synthetic IDs are created with unused credit.
Thanks for joining us on Easy Prey. Be sure to subscribe to our podcast on iTunes and leave a nice review.